Fastening system



Dec. 6, 1960 H. s. ROSENBAUM FASTENING SYSTEM Original Filed Jan. '7, 1954 ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,963,130 FASTENING SYSTEM Ro'senbanm, Baltimore, Md.,,assignor to Eastern lh'oduct's Corporation, Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Original application Jan, '7, 1954, Sen No..402,712. Di-

zniezg and this application Jan. 22, 1960, S'er. No.

9 Claims. (Cl. 189-36) quated buildings to employ a suspended ceiling system wherein individually secured panels or ceiling boards are positioned in the suspended construction. Generally, these ceiling boards have sound deadening or acoustical characteristics and, in addition, are pleasing in appearance.

Prior to) the instant invention, the heretofore known ceiling boards or panels were constructed such that they were permanently mounted in position; Thus, if a panel. were to be replaced, or if it were necessary'to gain access tothe space above theceiling, considerable time, labor and efiortiwere expended-in removing the panels. More,- ver, oftentimes a single panel or group of panels would become damaged and would thereby have to be replaced.

Here again, considerable difficulty was experienced in removing the defective panels. In addition the replacement panel did not always efiect a true fit with the assembled panels, thereby destroying the appearance of the ceiling.

. It i t ere o e. a ob ec o he P se invention to provide a suspended ceiling construction wherein each individual ceiling panel is securely locked in position but is removable as desired.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ceiling construction which includes a panel fastening system whereby cross bars are firmly secured to supporting members, the supporting members and cross bars having flanges upon which the ceiling panels will be sup;

ported. r, V

, Still a'n'otherobject of the "present invention is toprovide a 'clip for securingthe cross bars to the supporting members, the clip being easily assembled in position with the supporting members and cross bars.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide [a locking device whereby the ceiling panels or board's maybe locked in position in the ceiling assembly but may be conveniently removed from the locked positio'ii, as desired.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a loeking' element for ceiling panels or boards whereby apor'tio'n oftlie locking element extends below the ceiling panel or board, thereby providing for instant operation of the locking device when the ceiling board is to be replaced or removed.

Other objects and the nature and advantages of the iiistantinventibn will "be apparent from the following v 2 description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: I 7

Fig. l is a fragmentary perspective view of the ce1ling construction embodied in the present invention illus trating the manner in which the cross bars are s'ecuredin position between the supporting members by the clips and further illustrating the position of the locking elements; 7 V i Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of Fig. 1 illustrating the clip secured to a supporting member and a cross bar, showing in particular a locking element;

Fig, 3 is a perspective view of the clip and looking,v

element embodied in the present invention as secured to a cross bar; a

Fig, 4 is a plan view of the clip and cross bar with a portion of a supportingmember shown in section; and

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the clip and cross bar.

with a portion of the supporting member shown in section. Referring to the drawings, a and particularly Fig. l,

, the ceiling construction embodied in the present invention is illustrated and includes a pair of parallel elon-.

gated supporting members generally indicated at 10. It is understood that only a portion of the ceiling is shown in Fig. L the complete ceiling construction includinga plurality of the supporting members It It is also understood that supporting members 10 may be spliced together toform continuous lengths when large ceiling, areas are to be enclosed. The supporting members 10 are adapted to depend' from the existing ceiling or from structural members or beams by' any convenient means, such as, for example, rods or wire hangers. For this purpose, spaced holes are provided in each supporting member 10 for receiving any of the known type wire n ers In order to support individually formed panels or ceiling boards, the supporting members 10 are formed in an inverted T configurationfrom a single piece of material which, as shown in Fig. 5, is shaped to include an upper rib 16, vertical portions 18, 2:0 and horizontal flanges 2 2, 24. A flange cover 26 is clipped to the flanges 22, 24 and the underside thereof is thereby exposed to the interior of; the rooi'n and in order to effect a modern and pleasing appearance, the underside of the flange cover 26 may be enameled with any suitable color.

Ceiling panels or boards 28, which are formed in desirable lengths, are positioned onthe flanges 22, 24 of the supporting members 10, and although any type ceiling board may be employed in the present invention, it is generally preferred that the ceiling boards 28 be formed of an acoustical material. As shown in Fig. 1, the ceiling boards 28 are positioned end-to-end and engage cross bars, one of which is shown generally at 30. Referring to Fig, 2, the cross bar 30 is shown formed in an inverted T section and includes a vertical portion 32 and horizontal flange portions 34 and 36. The flanges 3'4 and 36 are capped by a flange cover 38, which may have itsund erside colored with any suitable enamel, such as described above in connection with the supporting mem: ber flange cover 26. It is apparent that ceiling boards 28 are 'thus confined between the supporting members 10, and cross bars 30, and are supported on the flanges 22 24 and 34, 36 thereof.

In order to secure the cross bars 30 to the supporting members 10, clips are provided, one of which is generally indicated at 40 in Fig. 3. The clip 40 is adapted to be preassembled with the cross bar 30 and is rigidly secured to theend thereof in a manner to be described below. Referring to Figs. 3 and 5, the clip 40 is shown comprising a body portion 42 and a head 44 integrally joined to thebodypo ion. The lowerportio'n of the body portion "42 is tamieawitha cut outsection45 from which isfo'rin'e'd Patented Dec. 6, 1960..

an outwardly projecting tongue 46. Extending lengthwise of the body portion 42 and formed along the upper edge thereof is an overhanging elongated lug 48. The overhanging lug 48 extends substantially parallel with the body portion 42 and thereby forms a slot therebetween'. In assembling the clip 40 with the cross bar 30, the vertical portion 32 is received in the slot between the overhanging lug 48 and the clip body portion 42. In order to rigidly secure the clip 40 to the cross bar 30, the tongue 46 projects through an aligned opening 50 formed in the vertical portion 32 of the cross bar and is turned upwardly to engage the clip body portion 42.

When the clip 40 is assembled with the cross bar 30, the endmost portion of the cross bar extends the length of the clip body portion, terminating at the clip head portion 44. Referring to Fig. 5, the head portion 44 is shown projecting outwardly from the cross bar 30 and is adapted to engage a supporting member 10, thereby securing the cross bar to the supporting member. The head portion 44 is formed with projections 52 and 5,4 which are adapted to extend through respective upper and lower notches 52 and 54' at opposite ends of an opening 56 formed in the vertical portions 18, 20 of the supporting members. Shoulders 58 and 60 are formed on the upper and lowermost ends of the head portion 44 and are spaced rearwardly from the projections 52, 54 and are adapted to contact the vertical portion 20 of the supporting member 10. When the clip 40 is assembled with a supporting member 10, a T-shaped cleat 62 having tapered ends 63 and a neck 64 integrally joined to the head portion 44 of the clip extends through the opening 56 along with the projections 52 and 54, which extend through the notches 52, 54. The shoulder 58 abuts against the vertical portion 20 of the supporting member. The terminal end 35 of the horizontal flange portions 34, 36 of the cross bar 30 will be drawn into flush rigid relationship with the adjacent edge 25 of the horizontal flange 24 of member 10, see Fig. 2. i

In order to rigidly secure the clip 40 and bar 30 to the supporting member 10, the cleat 62 is twisted from a vertical position shown in Fig. 3 to a horizontal position illustrated in Figs. 1, 4 and 5. By twisting the cleat 62, the neck portion 64 is fore-shortened and the shoulder 58 and flange portions 34, 36 are thereby drawn into relatively rigid engagement with the vertical portion of the supporting member 10 and the flange edge 25, respectively.

When the neck 64 is placed under tension due to twisting, the projections 52, 54 and shoulders 58, 60 will be drawn into pressurized engagement with the member 10, and the cleat ends 63 will engage in spaced relation on opposite sides of the opening 56. All the pressure will be concentrated in a limited area of the pointed or tapered ends 63 of the cleats. In the event the pressure is too great, the tapered ends 63 may deform slightly, the material be such to permit such deformation after a maximum pressure per square inch is attained at the tapered ends 63.

Each end of the cross bar 30 is secured to a clip 40 which is in turn rigidly secured to a supporting member 10 (see Fig. 1). With the cross bars 30 secured between the supporting members 10, the ceiling boards 28 are dropped in place on the horizontal flanges which are formed on the supporting members and cross bars, and the ceiling boards are thereby retained in position thereon.

In order to prevent the ceiling boards 28 from being moved upwardly and to securely lock them in position on the flanges of the supporting members 10 and cross bars 30, the present invention incorporates a locking device, the locking device being formed as a part of the clip 40. The body portion 42 of the clip 40 is formed with a vertically extending raised rib 66 on the endmost portion opposite the head portion 44 thereof, the vertically extending raised rib 66 forming a vertical groove or slot 68, as seen. in Fig. 4. A key or locking element. is positioned in the slot 68 and comprises an enlarged head 70, jas'hank pop.

tion 72, and a foot portion 74. The enlarged head 70 projects above the cross bar 30 and in the locking position is adapted to be rotated until-the axis thereof is perpen dicular to the longitudinal axis of the cross bar. As shown in Fig. 1, one set of locking elements has been rotated to move the enlarged heads into engagement with the upper surface of the ceiling boards 28, thereby locking the ceiling boards from upward movement. The other set of locking elements is illustrated in the unlocked position. In order to rotate the locking element thereby turning the head 70, a finger 76 is formed on the foot portion 74 and projects downwardly through adjacent ceiling boards 28 to the underside thereof. 'T he finger 76 thereby provides a convenient means for rotating the locking element but is positioned so that it presents only the lower tip thereof to the underside of the ceiling construction and therefore is not readily discernible. In order to unlock the ceiling boards for removal or replacement thereof, it is apparent that the finger 76 of each locking element is moved sufficiently to pivotally turn the enlarged head 70 until the longitudinal axis thereof is parallel with the longitudinal axis of the cross bar. The ceiling board may then be lifted upwardly and access to the space above the ceiling board is provided. If the ceiling board need be replaced, then this is easily accomplished and a new ceiling board may be positioned on the horizontal flanges of the cross bars 30 and supporting members 10 and then locked into position by means of the locking elements.

It is apparent that the ceiling construction described herein may be assembled with any heretofore known type ceiling structural members. Moreover, any heretofore known ceiling may be modified to incorporate the ceiling construction described herein without requiring elaborate changes. The cross bars are easily and quickly assembled with the supporting members by utilizing the new type clip and a rigid construction is formed thereby. Each ceiling board or panel is individually locked into place and may be separately removed, as desired. This not only enables the ceiling board or panel to be replaced, but, in addition, affords accessibility to the space above the ceiling boards. Furthermore, the underside of the supporting members and cross bars provides an attractive design that may be modified with the change in size of the ceiling boards. This presents both a pleasing and modern effect. I

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore the invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a ceiling construction, supporting means for ceiling boards including a support member and cross bar disposed at right angles to each other and having a T-shaped cross section to form vertical webs and horizontal flanges, said cross bar including an abutment edge.

transversely of the horizontal flange thereof and engaging the adjacent longitudinal edges of the horizontal flange of said support member, mounting means on said cross bar web extending longitudinally therefrom beyond said abutment edge, said support member web including a vertically elongated opening therethrough, said mounting means comprising a T-shaped cleat having rearwardly ends of said cleat engaging the other side of said support member web, said twistable neck drawing the projecting ends of said cleat, said shoulder and said abutment edge into rigid relation with respect to said support member.

2. The structure of claim 1, said support member webopening including opposed notch portions at opposite upper and lower ends, and a pair of projections on said mounting means and extending through said notch portions.

3. The structure of claim 1, said rearwardly projecting cleat ends including tapered end portions engageable on limited areas of said other side of said support member web for concentrating pressure in a limited area due to twisting of said neck.

4. The structure of claim 1, said mounting means comprising a separate clip, means fixedly securing said clip on the end of said cross bar, the end of said cross bar providing said abutment edge, and means fixedly securing said clip in juxtaposition on said cross bar Web.

5. The structure of claim 4, said support member web opening including opposed notch portions at opposite upper and lower ends, and a pair of projections on said mounting means and extending through said notch portions, said projections being vertically spaced from said neck.

6. The structure of claim 4, said rearwardly projecting cleat ends including tapered end portions engageable on limited areas of said other side of said support member web for concentrating pressure in a limited area due to twisting of said neck.

7. For use in a ceiling construction, a clip mountable in juxtaposition on the web of a cross bar for securing the cross bar at right angles to a supporting member having an elongated opening formed therethrough, said clip comprising a body and a head portion, said body portion including means thereon for securement to the end of a cross bar, said head portion including a pair of spaced coplanar shoulders, a pair of projections between said shoulders and extending therebeyond, and a T-shaped cleat having rearwardly projecting ends and a twistable neck portion extending between said projections and projecting ends, said cleat being twistable at said neck portion normal to the plane of said shoulders and projections.

8. The structure of claim 7, the rearwardly projecting ends of said cleat terminally tapering for engagement in spaced transverse relation to the opening in said support member.

9. The structure of claim 7, said body portion including a transverse rib at one end for forming a vertical journal support portion with the web of said cross bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,403,580 Cartwright et al. July 9, 1946 2,703,635 Carlson Mar. 8, 1955 2,710,679 Bibb et a1. June 14, 1955 2,721,633 Keelor Oct. 25, 1955 

